Submitted by Emerson Dameron:

American filmmaker Vikram Gandhi examines gurus and gullibility. In the process, he goes undercover as Kumaré, an enlightened spiritual leader from the East who develops a following in the West. His documentary The True Story of a False Prophet premiers in the US this summer. Read more here.

Movie Trailer:

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Submitted by Emerson Dameron:

The pranksters at Chill Hill Media decided to treat one of their own like a celebrity, and mall security unwittingly signed on:

And now Thomas Elliot actually is sort of famous:

The eXile did a more elaborate version of this before:

From Mark Borkowski:

The man who posted himself: The suburban accountant who tested the Royal Mail to its limits, exasperated Hitler and became one of Britain’s greatest pranksters
by David Leafe
dailymail.co.uk
19 March 2012

He was a most unlikely prankster, an Edwardian husband and father whose neatly clipped moustache and smart suit gave his neighbours no reason to believe he was anything but a respectable accountant.

In his everyday life, he observed the many rules and regulations drawn up by bureaucrats of the time — keep off the grass in public parks, refrain from spitting in the street and avoid putting your feet on train seats.

In short, he seemed a model citizen, but as in so many of us, within W. Reginald Bray there lurked an impish spirit that longed to cock a snook at officialdom.

And a clue as to his target was the red post-box outside his home in Forest Hill, a leafy suburb of South London.

Its positioning could not have been more fortuitous for a man whose hobby was to test the postal system to its limit.

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Submitted by Emerson Dameron:

Dormant and Tired

In 1974, after 3 years of planning, a man named Oliver Bickar pulled off one of the world’s biggest (in size) April Fools’ Day pranks. He and his co-conspirators flew dozens of tires over to an extinct volcanic crater called Mount Edgecumbe on uninhabited Kruzof Island in Alaska. When he lit the tires on fire, people in Sitka, a town on the closest island, took serious note, wondering if the volcano, extinct for 4,000 years, had suddenly erupted. You can read the whole story on NowIKnow and at The Museum of Hoaxes.

WikiLeaks: “Private Spies” Stratfor Helped Dow Chemical Monitor Bhopal Activists, The Yes Men
by Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan
Democracy Now
February 28, 2012

Emails leaked by WikiLeaks from the private intelligence firm Stratfor reveal the chemical industrial giant Dow Chemical closely followed the work of activists around the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal chemical disaster, the 1984 gas leak that killed anywhere between 3,500 and 25,000 people. Of particular interest to Dow was the group, The Yes Men, the anti-corporate pranksters who pulled off a famous 2004 hoax that led the world to believe Dow had finally taken responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy. “With us, they were carefully paying attention to every move that we were making publicly, especially anything to do with Dow and Bhopal,” says Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men. “What surprised us in those emails, though, was that we would have assumed that Dow would be really concerned with the exact issue of Bhopal and Dow’s responsibility, stuff that could directly impact their bottom line. But what S[t]ratfor seems to be really a bit obsessed with is whether we or other organizations are going to draw this into a bigger critique of corporate power.”

Shepard Fairey Pleads Guilty: Five Other Art-Related Crimes
by Dale W. Eisinger
International Business Times
February 27, 2012

When we reported Shepard Fairey pleaded guilty to charges of contempt in Manhattan federal court Friday, it closed the book on an admittedly strange battle that Fairey initiated, and then tried to cover up — the 42-year-old artist ended up forging documents in an attempt to steer clear of legal problems altogether. Now he faces jail time and fines.

A lively discussion is still bubbling around whether or not his use of an AP-licensed photo of President Barack Obama was “fair use”" or not, but the fact is: dude’s in deep do-do. However, I find it kind of admirable he’d go to such a great lengths to conceal and deceive and commit crime for his art. With that in mind, here are a few risk-laden art endeavors, some of which went off better than others.

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Maya Rudolph channels Maya Angelou who channels Betty White’s inner prankster in “Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Laughs,” on Saturday Night Live, February 18, 2012:

Cantab ‘Original Prankster’ Dies, Aged 94
by Harry Shukman
CambridgeTab.co.uk
11th February 2012

One of the oldest former members of the infamous Cambridge Night Climbers has died, aged 94.

Nares Craig, who studied at Trinity in the 1930s, was well-known for his activity in the elusive Night Climbers.

This small and select group of daredevils ran, jumped and swang over the rooftops of Cambridge under the cover of darkness, just for kicks.

Back in the day, Nares made his name by climbing King’s Chapel to hang an effigy of King George VI just before his coronation.

Writing in his memoirs, Nares remembered ‘a rash of bunting and union jacks’ appearing all over Cambridge.

‘It prompted me,’ he said, ‘to think of some appropriate way of mocking the whole pantomime of royalty.’ (more…)

‘The Cacophony Society’ is more than just a clown show
by Richard Chang
The Orange County Register
February 10, 2012

Grand Central Art Center is exploring one of America’s most playful fringe organizations in ‘The Cacophony Society – Zone Show.’

Multi-colored fliers line the walls outside Grand Central Art Center’s Main Gallery. A blue banner hangs from the ceiling and reads, “Welcome Homeland Security.”

A red, black and white sign just inside the Main Gallery mysteriously states: “You may already be a member.” Further inside, chaos and mayhem ensue.

“The Cacophony Society – Zone Show” is the newest exhibition at Santa Ana’s Grand Central Art Center. It opened Feb. 4 with a massive reception attended by thousands crowding the Artists Village, and continues through April 15. (more…)

‘Bitter bench’ which tilts forward when used part of unknown artists’ group protest against Brisbane City Council’s response to homelessness
by Robyn Ironside
The Courier-Mail
February 3, 2012

PUBLIC transport users are literally being thrown off their seats in bus shelters as part of a bizarre protest against the Brisbane City Council’s apparent response to homelessness.

An “unofficial” public artwork in William St, the city, features a bench that tilts forward when used – tipping people off.

A spokesman for the artists’ group, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the so-called “bitter bench” was installed without council permission on the site of a recently removed bus shelter popular among Brisbane’s homeless. (more…)

The adventures of Milk Man – the worst super hero in the world!

by freddiew: Just some cool dudes making sweet vids with rad FX!

via: GeeksAreSexy.net

Submitted by Joshua Darrah: Here’s a prank I pulled on my friends and family recently:

STEP 1: Secretly shave off your two year long hair.
STEP 2: Glue it into a wig.
STEP 3: pull it off to freak your friends. 40 of them.

I had been growing my hair for a couple of years, and wanted to go back to a shaved head, but I wanted to make it a surprise to my brother that i was suddenly shaving my head. I have NO IDEA where the idea came to me from, but i wondered if I would be able to cut off my long hair, keep it, then hot glue it into a wig. I would then wear that wig of my own hair (yes this is slightly serial killerish i know!) and while hanging with my brother, suddenly pull off my ‘hair’ and be shaved headed in a split second.

I told him I was filming a video project, that way I could film his reaction. And man it went down a treat! I then realised I could wear my wig to every visit with friends and family over the coming 2 months, I eventually pranked over 40 of my close friends and family. I’m editing it into a long version for Youtube in the next couple of weeks, but for now I hope you enjoy this 30 second clip.

I’ve entered it into an Australian prank competition (which is why it is constricted to 30 seconds only, argh!).

Competition link for voting: http://www.messinwithmates.com/entry-selection.html?video_id=494

Submitted by Roger:

Mister Wrong
by Carl Swanson
NY Magazine
October 23, 2011:

After he’s done dangling his oeuvre from the Guggenheim’s atrium, Maurizio Cattelan plans to retire from the art world. It’ll be like being dead—or resurrected.

Maurizio Cattelan’s first show in New York, in 1994, consisted of a self-­portrait in the form of a live donkey wandering around a gallery under a chandelier, braying inconsolably. That show wasn’t up long—there were noise complaints—but even now, when his always-wry sculptures sell for millions and his unbelievably elaborate full-rotunda Guggenheim retrospective is about to open, he retains that same posture of self-­suspicion. “Today I would say I don’t know how I arrived at this point,” he says, sitting on a bench near a playground on West 28th Street, not far from the West Chelsea galleries, cocking a knowing eyebrow at a sudden whiff of marijuana in the air.* “I don’t know how I arrived at this point, at the Guggenheim. There must be something wrong somewhere.”

Article continues after this announcement:

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From Reverend Al of the Cacophony Society:

The new year will bring us many strange things, among them a museum exhibition on the history of Cacophony and the Suicide Club, opening on February 4 — in Orange County of all places (along with sneak preview of Jon Alloway’s documentary on our group).

SHOW INFO:

Details follow… (more…)

Anonymous Hackers Targeted By FBI, Homeland Security For Potential National Security Threat
by Paul Elias
Huffington Post
September 11, 2011

San Francisco — Anonymous is not so anonymous anymore.

The computer hackers, chat room denizens and young people who comprise the loosely affiliated Internet collective have increasingly turned to questionable tactics, drawing the attention of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal investigators.

What was once a small group of pranksters has become a potential national security threat, federal officials say.

The FBI has carried out more than 75 raids and arrested 16 people this year in connection with illegal hacking jobs claimed by Anonymous.

Since June, the Department of Homeland Security has issued three “bulletins” warning cyber-security professionals of hacking successes and future threats by Anonymous and related groups, including a call to physically occupy Manhattan’s Wall Street on Sept. 17 in protest of various U.S. government policies. (more…)